Fire extinguisher



Oct. 6, 1931.

W. L. ROESSNER ET AL FIRE EXTINGUI SHER Filed May '12, 1930 WZeeZe 7",

gwumdom Patented Oct. 6, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM L.ROESSNER, EMMA WHEELER, AND VICTOR CLYDE SMEDLEY, 0F DENVER, COLORADO;SAID EMMA WHEELER AND VICTOR CLYDE SMEDLEY ASSIGNORS TO SAID WILLIAM L.ROE-SSNER FIRE EXTINGUISHER Application filed May 12,

This invention relates to improvements in fire extinguishers of the typethat employs carbon tetrachloride as the fire extinguishing liquid.

The use of carbon tetrachloride for fire extinguishing purposes is wellknown and many specifically different devices have been invented to makeit possible to conveniently and efficiently employ this liquid for fireextinguishing purposes.

It has been found that it is necessary for the successful handling ofcarbon tetrachloride to enclose the same in hermetically sealed glasscontainers as by so doing loss due to evaporation is prevented and sincethe carbon tetrachloride does not chemically attack glass the liquid canbe safely stored or kept for any length of time. Instead of glass othervitreous material can be used but since glass is as cheap or cheaperthan other suitable materials, it is used almost exclusively.

The usual way of employing carbon tetrachloride for fire extinguishingpurposes is to enclose it in hermetically sealed grenades, as abovedescribed, and these are then thrown into the room where the fire existsand are broken thereby releasing the liquid. In some instancesmechanical means is employed for breaking the glass containers when thetemperature exceeds a predetermined value. Such means usually employs afusible link that releases the grenade and lets it drop onto the floorwhen the link melts or which releases a spring pressed plunger or hammerthat strikes the grenade and breaks it. In

a all of the means known to us, the grenade is broken and the entirecontents discharged at once.

It is the object of this invention to produce a fire extinguishercomprising a sealed glass container, carbon tetrachloride and meansfor-breaking the container and putting the liquid under pressure afterthe container has been broken so that it can be discharged in a streamand thus directed to any place desired.

It is evident that the fire extinguishing liquid can not be effectivelyused where the container is thrown on the floor and broken or where thecontainer is broken and the 1930. Serial No. 451,797.

come apparent as the description proceeds are attained by means of aconstruction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described indetail and for this purpose refer ence will be had to the accompanyingdraw ings in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal diametrical section through one of the fireextinguishing devices which forms the subject of this invention, theparts being shown in inoperative position;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to that shown in Fig. 1 and shows the upperportion of the device with the parts in operative position;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33, Fig. 1 and shows the fusible linkthat holds the parts against movement; and

Fig. 4 is a section through fied form of the invention.

In the drawings reference numeral 1 indicates a metal housing which ispreferably of cylindrical shape and has its lower end 2 closed, theother end being open. A cover 3 is secured to the open end of thehousing by means of bayonet joints comprising pins 4. The cover has anopening 5 in its upper end in the manner shown in the drawings. Locatedwithin the housing is a container 6, which is preferably made from glassbut which may be made from any other vitreous material. such asporcelain or glazed earthenware. This container is somewhat smaller indiameter than the inside diameter of the housing' and is separated fromthe latter by means of a paper spacer 7 The spacer, although it isdesirable is not absolutely necessary and can be dispensed with. Thelower end of the container has been indicated by reference numeral 8 andthis is usually sealed in the manthe partition will be connected withthe container along a line that is greatly weakened and therefore whenthe partition is broken it will break along this weakened line so as toleave the inner surface of the container free from projections for apurpose that'will hereinafter more fully appear.

The container is filled with a liquid which is usually carbontetrachloride, but which may be any other fire extinguishing liquid thatmay be found suitable for this purpose. After the liquid has beenintroduced the 0011- tainer is sealed at 12, which is left open for thepurpose of introducing the liquid. The liquid is not under pressure butis hermetica ly sealed within the container in a manner quite apparentfrom the drawings and from the description.

For the purpose of discharging the liquid from the container in a streamwhen the extinguisher is used, we have provided the following means. Apiston comprising a metal plate 13 and another cone-shaped metal plate14 between which is clamped a cup-shaped gasket 15 of rubber or leatherhas been provided and normally occupies the position shown in Fig. 1where it is located in the outer end of the container directly above thepartition. The piston is provided with a central opening from which atube or nozzle 16 extends. The nozzle has associated with it two tubularmembers 17 and 18 which are telescopically connected with the nozzle 16,and with each other. A resilient device comprising a plurality ofsprings is interposed between the upper surface of the piston and thetop of the cover. This spring assembly has been especially designed forthis particular relationand consists of a plurality of helicalcompression springs the largest of which has been designated by numeral19, the next smaller by numeral 20 and the smallest by numeral 21. Inthe embodiment illustrated three springs have been shown but a greaternumber can be used when necessary. Each spring is connected with thenext smaller spring by means of a tubular connector 22, one end of whichhas an outwardly extending flange 23 and the other end of which has aninwardly extending flange 2.1. The tubular connectors have a lengthequal to the minimum length of the spring when compressed and thereforethe spring assembly when compressed is no longer than any of thesections would be when compressed. but when the assembly is allowed toexpand it will attain a length that is equal to the combined length ofthe several springs minus the combined length of the tubular connectorsand in this way a long movement can be effected by a spring assemblythat is comparatively short when compressed.

The nozzle 16 is of such length that it extends out through the opening5 in the cap when the springs are compressed, as shown in Fig. 1 and isprovided with an outwardly extending bead 25 near its outer end. Afusible link 26 comprising two L-shaped members have their base portions27 attached to each other by a special solder that will fuse at a lowtemperature and have their stems 28 spaced apart a distance equal to theoutside diameter of the nozzle 16. When the link is in place, as shownin Fig. 3 the nozzle will be held against inward movement but when thetemperature becomes high enough to melt the readily fusible solder, thetwo parts of the link will separate and allow the spring assembly toexpand in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The tubes 17 and 18 areinterconnected by inwardly and outwardly extending flanges as shown inFig. 2 and the outer end of tube 18 has a flange 29 whose diameter isgreater than the diameter of opening 5 and which, therefore acts as astop when the parts are functioning. The convex disk 14 has a centralopening 30 and extends below the lower end of the gasket cup 15 so Ithat when the parts are moved inwardly the central portion of disk 14will strike the partition 9 and break it.

WVhen the fusible link releases the parts the piston immediately movesinwardly and breaks the partition. Owing to the fact that grooves 11have been provided the partition will break along the weakened portion11 and there will therefore be no inwardly extending projections thatwill prevent the piston from moving. In order to obviate all danger ofinoperativeness due to glass projections along the line of break, a ring31 has been provided between the piston and the wall of the containerand the lower edge of this ring terminates directly above the partitionso that the cup 15 will not expand until after it has passed below theline of break and therefore it will not catch on small glass projectionsand be cut or held against movement.

After the piston has been released and has broken the partitions, theliquid will be confined in the container by the moving piston and willbe put under pressure whereby it will flow outwardlythrough tubes 16, 17and 18 and emerges in a strong stream that can be directed onto thefire.

The fusible link may be provided with a ring 32 that can be grasped bythe operator for the purpose of removing the link and releasing thepiston at any time.

The fusible link that has been illustrated is only illustrative of aheat responsive restraining device and may be replaced by any othersuitable device for this purpose, the arrangement illustrated is,however, believed to be the preferable one.

In Fig. 4 a modification has been shown. I11 the modified constructionnumeral 33 indicates a cylindrical housingwithin which is located apiston 34. The housing is provided with an opening 35 and has a cover 36held in place by bayonet pins 37. Secured to the piston is a member 38that corresponds to the nozzle 16 in Figs. 1" and 2 and which extendsthrough an opening in cover 36. The outer end of member 38 base bead 25athat corresponds to bead 25 on nozzle 16 and with which the fusible link26 cooperates to hold the piston against the action of spring 38. Thecarbon tetrachloride is contained in the glass cartridge 40 which isbroken by the piston when it is released. After the piston has beenreleased and has broken the glass container, the liquid will be putunder pres- I sure and'forced out through opening 35.

In both of the embodiments illustrated, the liquid is stored in ahermetically sealed container and there is means for breaking thecontainer when the temperature reaches and/or exceeds a predeterminedvalue and then putting the liquid under pressure whereby it will beprojected in a stream through an opening or nozzle.

Devices of the kind described can be used in connection with ar mobilesas well as for domestic use as they can be held by the operator and thestream directed in any direction, or they may be suspended from a hookor set on a shelf and will function whenever the temperature increasesbeyond a predetermined value.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A fire extinguisher comprising, in combination, a hermetically sealedcontainer formed from a single piece of glass, a fire extinguishingliquid in the container, said liquid being normally not subjected topressure, meansfor breaking the container when the temperature exceeds apredetermined value, means for putting the liquid under pressure afterthe container has been broken and means for discharging the liquid fromthe container through an opening in the pressure producing means.

2. A fire extinguisher comprising, in combination, a metal housing, ahermetically sealed glass container within the housing, a fireextinguishing liquid in the container, temperature responsive meansfor'breaking the container and means for putting the liquid underpressure and for projecting a stream of liquid outwardly from thehousing after the container has been broken.

' 3. A fire extinguisher comprising, in combination, a metal housing, ahermeticall sealed container of glass or the like, locate within thehousing, said container being cylindrical and having one end open, aquantity of fire extinguishing liquid within the container, one end ofthe container being sealed by a breakable partition located within thecontainer a short distance from the open end thereof, a piston locatedwithin the housing and in the open end of the container, resilient meansfor moving the piston towards the partition and into the container, heatresponsive means for holding the piston in inoperative position whilethe temperature is below a predetermined value and for releasing it whenthe temperature exceeds the predetermined value whereby the partition isbroken and the piston moved against the liquid and a nozzle carried bythe piston and in communication with the liquid whereby when the pistonis moved inwardly, the liquid will be put under pressure and forcedoutwardly through the nozzle.

4. A lire extinguisher comprising, in combination, a cylindrical metalhousing, a cylindrical hermetically sealed container of vitreousmaterial or the like, located in the housing, one end of the containerbeing closed and the other end open, a fire extinguishing liquid withinthe container, a breakable partition located within the container ashort distance from the open end, the partition having a weakenedportion where it connects with the inner surface of the containerwhereby it will break along the. line of the weakened portion when abreaking force is applied to it, a piston located within the containeradjacent the outer surface of the partition, resilient means for urgingthe piston towards the partition and for breaking the same and formoving it inwardly into the container after the partition has beenbroken, the piston havingan opening, a nozzle having one end secured inthe opening and the other extending outwardly through the .housing andheat responsive means for normally holding the piston away from thepartition and for releasing the same when the temperature exceeds apredetermined value whereby the piston will be forced against thepartition and after breaking the same enter the container and subjectthe liquid to pressure, thereby causing the liquid to flow outwardlythrough the nozzle.

5. In a fire extinguisher the combination, of a container adapted tocontain a liquid, a piston located in the container and adapted to bemoved therealong, resilient means for urging the piston into thecontainer and heat responsive means for holding the piston againstmovement while the temperature is below a predetermined value, theresilient means comprising a plurality of concentric springs of suchdiameters that the smaller can be inserted into the next larger andmeans for connecting the inner end of a smaller spring with the outerend of the next larger spring, said means having a length substantiallyequal to the length of the springs when compressed.

6. A fire extinguisher comprising, in combination, a cylindricalcontainer of glass, or the like, one end of said container being sealedand the other open, a fire extinguishing liquid in the container, theopen end of the container being closed by means of an integraltransverse partition spaced from the open end thereof, a piston locatedin the container between the partition and the open end, resilient meanstending to move the piston towards the partition, heat responsive meansfor holding the resilient means inoperative while the temperature isbelow a predetermined value and for releasing the piston when thetemperature exceeds a predetermined value whereby. the piston movesinwardly, breaks the partition and puts the liquid under pressure, thepiston having an opening, and a nozzle secured in the opening.

7. A fire extinguisher comprising, in combination, a cylindricalcontainer of glass, or the like, one end of said container being sealedand the other open, a fire extinguishing liquid in the container, theopen end of the container being closed by means of an integraltransverse partition spaced from the open end thereof, a piston locatedin the container between the partition and the open end, resilient meanstending to move the piston towards the partition, heat responsive meansfor holding the resilient means inoperative while the temperature isbelow a predetermined value and for releasing the piston when thetemperature exceeds a predetermined value whereby the piston movesinwardly, breaks the partition and puts the liquid under pressure, thepiston having a cup packing of yielding material, means for holding thecup compressed to a smaller diameter than the inside of the containerwhile it is located outside of the plane of the partition and forallowing the cup to expand after it has moved to the inside of the planeof the partition, the piston having an opening and a nozzle secured inthe opening whereby when the liquid is put under pressure it will flowoutwardly through the nozzle.

In testimony whereof we atfix our signatures.

WILLIAM L. ROESSNER. EMMA VHEELER. VICTOR CLYDE SMEDL'EY.

